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C drive clean

meem

Posted 01 December 2008 - 07:16 PM

meem

Member

Member

28 posts

can you clean the C drive on a computer????????and if yes how do you do it,a self taught mum with little knowledge of computer works.I defrag and delete every week and on my C drive i have a 38.2GB. and 24.7 used with 13.4 free.this computer is 5 years old but it does me,i also have an external hard drive that i have not used yet.Any ideas how to reduce disc space.i have put all photo's music to discs and use the computer every day. love healing and peace.Meem.

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1101doc

Posted 01 December 2008 - 10:12 PM

Your external drive is the place to put all your personal data. Photos, music, videos, movies, documents of every kind- all the stuff that you really don't want to lose.

Most external USB drives are quite simple these days. If it has its own power supply plug it in and then connect the USB cable to the computer before turning it on. Some 'turn on' automatically when connected- that's fine.

Wait a bit to see if a ballon pops up about finding a new device. It will change to "your device is installed." Turn it on and wait again for the "...installed" balloon message.

If no balloon, turn it on. Then there will likely be one. Wait for it to change to "...installed," and then open "My computer. You should see a new drive listed. Likely it will be called "E."

When double clicked a new window will open with nothing in it. That is your new empty external hard drive. I suggest that you create folders for each of the different types of files you want to keep there, and then go through your "C" drive using the "Move to..." button at the top of the window to move the files to the external.

Don't have a "Move to.." button?

Right click an open space on the window's toolbar and select "customize." You will be able to add and remove various useful buttons including 'Move to' and 'Copy to.'

Move all your 'stuff' to the external drive. This will free up lots of space that can be used for installing new programs.

Hint: It is even possible to install programs to the external drive. They will open a little more slowly, but will usually work. Of course, if the external is not connected or turned off they will not be available.

Many applications offer an 'advanced' option during install. Selecting that will often give you the opportunity to choose exactly where the program files will reside. Some do not and just default to C:\Program Files.

If your computer is a Desktop, and the external will always be on, you may even want to actually move "My Documents" itself: http://www.kellys-ko...n_xp_mydocs.htm I don't do that on my laptop, because I often travel without my external.

Once you begin to use the external your data will be safe even if Windows crashes, and your C: drive will have much more free space. Enjoy.

PS: For really great 'cleaning' try ATF Cleaner: http://majorgeeks.co...aner_d4949.html Just skip the "Prefetch" box. If you choose to remove all your cookies you'll need to log into all your favorite sites again, and if you're one of those who make extensive use of your 'History" you may not want to check that one either.

The main (front) page includes Internet Explorer, and at the top are Firefox and Opera (if installed). Carefully check the stuff you want to remove before pressing "Empty Selected." I've seen computers where ATF removed over a gig of 'junk files' the first time.

1101doc

Posted 02 December 2008 - 09:35 AM

meem

Posted 05 December 2008 - 09:36 AM

meem

Member

Topic Starter

Member

28 posts

HI 1101DOC,
I FOLLOWED YOUR INSTRUCTIONS, BUT I HAD NOTHING TO TRANSFER,I HAD DELETED A LOT OFF MY COMPUTER WHEN I NOTICED THE DISC SPACE WAS GETTING SMALLER,I HAVE DELETED COOKIES TEMPORY FILES HISTORY SAVED PASSWORDS AND WEB INFORMATION ETC DEFRAGED TOOK SYSTEM RESTORE TO TODAY AND TAKEN ALL THE OTHER DATES OFF,DO YOU KNOW HOW I CAN FIND MORE DISC SPACE.
SORRY TO BE A PAIN
MEEM

123Runner

Posted 05 December 2008 - 10:08 AM

123Runner

Member 4k

Member

4,354 posts

It looks like you have done quite a bit.

You can try THIS program and will give you a better idea of what you have installed.

You are probably fighting the (I do not want to remove) symptom as I am. My company laptop is packed (35gb used of a 40gb drive). But my job requires all I have. And they wont give me a larger drive.I need to off load something, but I haven't decided what as of yet.

1101doc

Posted 05 December 2008 - 03:13 PM

Deleting systen restore points by itself will not gain you space. What will be helpful is to reduce the total amount of space allocated to System Restore in the System Properties dialog.

Start>ControlPanel>System. Open the System Restore tab, press the "Settings" button and notice the "slider" that will adjust the amount of space reserved for System Restore.

If you rarely need it, and then just to return to a functional state, 2-3% of the drive is plenty. OK. Apply. OK.

Next, right click the Recycle bin and choose Properties. Configure your drives independently. For C:\ I suggest no more than one gig. Actually, if you have to delete a file bigger than the capacity of the Recycle bin, Window will display a warning/confirmation dialog anyway so that mistakes are minimized. The Recycle bin is just a "second chance" utility. Make it as small as you are comfortable with.

For access to even more 'invisible' space- Control Panel>Internet Options>General tab. Press the "Settings" button under Browsing History. Notice the box that says "Disk space to use." This is in Megabytes, and is how much space is reserved to Internet Explorer for its cache. You can make this very small if you wish. It will slow the display of pages a little, but the space will be yours.

Hibernation requires a ton of disk space, and is really not necessary. Standby works fine, and when it's going to be longer, I just power down.Turn off Hibernation in "Power options" from the Control Panel. Open the "Hibernate" tab, and uncheck the box for "Enable Hibernation." Apply. OK. After the next boot, search C:\ for hiberfil.sys and "Delete" it if it is still there.

You can also adjust your Page File (Virtual Memory) to a static rather than dynamic configuration. It is important to set the Page file at one and one-half times the size of installed RAM. To see how much RAM you have now, just open the System applet of the ControlPanel again. RAM is displayed on the general tab along with your Service Pack status and other info.

To change the Page File:

Open the "Advanced" tab of the "System" applet of the Control Panel, and click the top "Settings" button. Then open the "Advanced" tab again. Here, press the "change" button at the bottom right.

First, left click your C:\ drive entry in the top panel once to highlight. Then mark "Custom Size." (Do not be tempted by the 'no page file' option. It is just a path to trouble.) A page file is not required on an external drive, nor is System Restore.

The size can be typed into the boxes for minimum and maximum. Make them the same at 1 and1/2 times your RAM. 256 RAM = 384/ 512 RAM= 768/ 1024 RAM (one gig)= 1536.

When done click the "Set" button. Windows will explain that the new settings will apply upon the next boot. OK. Apply. OK.

Finally, it is possible to reclaim space now occupied by the uninstall files for all your Windows Updates. These are found in C:\Windows and all start with $NtUninstall. Be aware that if these files are removed, it will be difficult to impossible to remove any of the individual updates to your system. While this is not often required, when it is these files are invaluable.

That being said, many users delete these files routinely after the system shows no ill effects from an update. New updates will create new $NtUnistall files for themselves, so no effect will be felt for future updates. Although they are larger, I suggest that you do keep the 'Service Pack Uninstalls." They are more useful that the individual update files. If your system is stable at the present time, removing these files may be something you want to consider.

Please be very careful inside the Windows folder. Remember that it is where XP 'lives.' That folder really belongs to Windows, it's just that you have authority to make changes. Please delete only the $NtUninstall files(if you decide to do so), and no others. Also please do not delete any folders, even if they seem to be empty, OK?

All of this will not gain a whole lot of space, but it will help. For those Programs for which you have the set-up files (or CDs) and license keys, and for your "free" programs which can be downloaded easily from the web, I suggest un-installing from C:\ and then re-installing to your new external if possible. That will gain the most space especially if you start with the 'largest' applications as listed in Add/Remove.

meem

Posted 05 December 2008 - 07:01 PM

meem

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Topic Starter

Member

28 posts

1101 DOC,
THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOO MUCH I WILL TRY TOMMOROW ITS 1AM HERE. AND BEAUTY SLEEP DOES NOT WORK ANYMORE JUST MEANS I SLEEP MORE THROUGHOUT THE DAY,BUT NEED TO GET SOME SHUT EYE .
THANK YOU AGAIN I WILL LET YOU KNOW HOW I GET ON THANKS AGAIN
LOVE HEALING AND PEACE
MEEM X